Communication apparatus such as routers are devices for delivering data packets to a destination. In a network made up of a plurality of communication apparatus and a plurality of links, the communication apparatus work to forward received data according to its destination. When communicating data on the network, various path control systems have been proposed for cases when there exists multiple paths from the source apparatus to the destination apparatus. Such path control systems conduct path control to determine desired paths on the basis of evaluation standards.
For example, technology has been disclosed for a communication apparatus provided with dynamic voltage scaling (DVS) functions, wherein a cost value for each link is defined to be the sum of the power consumption by the communication apparatus at either ends of the link. The communication apparatus with DVS functions then calculates the path with the minimum link cost. In addition, there has been disclosed technology wherein an edge router collects statistical information and conducts path calculations.
Meanwhile, as the magnitude of communicated data has become increasingly vast, technologies are being researched for efficiently decreasing power consumption in individual apparatus on a network. For example, technology has been disclosed wherein communication apparatus not performing traffic processes are transitioned to a low power sleep mode, thereby curtailing system-wide power consumption.